Theme

The theme of "The Secret Life of Bees" is loss.  Lily undergoes a lot of situations that relate to loss and it is very sad. When Lily loses her mom in the beginning of the book, she doesn't only lose her mom, but she loses her father too. After Deborah's death, T-Ray changes.  He is no longer like a father to her, he simply didn't care.  He used her as an employee to sell peaches on the side of the road (bus she didn't get paid) and he abused her both verbally and physically.  Another instance when Lily must deal with loss is when her and Rosaleen get arrested.  When they got arrested Lily was let go and Rosaleen was not.  If Lily did not break her out of jail, that would have been the second time losing a mother figure.  When Lily is in South Carolina with the Boatwright sisters, she experienced a very similar situation.  Zack was arrested for something his friend said and that was the loss of her friend.  The last instance when Lily dealt with loss was when May comitted suicide.  Lily began to feel comfortable with May and she felt like she was able to talk to her about certain things, about her mother.  Lily leads a very sad and reclusive life.